I
f someone asked you what makes a religious different, how would you answer? Well, nuns and monks, they wear special clothes. Religious don’t get married and they live in communities. I think the real difference is that we have been called to a deeper love. This love is expressed in our vows: poverty, I have nothing that is my own; chastity, I will not get married; and obedience, I will undertake whatever apostolate my superiors give me in a Legionary manner.
To remind us of this, in the Legion we have a tradition of devotionally renewing our vows twice a year. To prepare for this, we spend three days in prayer. Unlike other retreats, these days are not totally dedicated to prayer, we keep up our regular activities. For instance, Thursday and Friday, I went to regular days of theology classes; if I remember right we studied the geography of Palestine, and the different ways we can know God.
For me, these days are a time away, like a couple who leaves their munchkins with Grandma and Grandpa to get away for the weekend. They spend more time together but that is not the ultimate goal. They really want to grow in love, to live their marriage more fully. Similarly, when we take this time out, I don’t think it is to avoid others, or even solely to spend more time with Christ, we want to rediscover and deepen our first love.
On the Assumption, in 2009, I did my perpetual profession. The few times we have our devotional renewal since then, it brought me back to that day when I promised everything to Christ. This return was emphasized this time by 2 brothers making their perpetual vows and 18 renewing their vows in preparation for their perpetual vows with Fr Álvaro presiding.
By my vows, I rely completely on Christ. The second half of the formula in the Legion is a petition for help in living the vows. We ask help from divine grace, the Heart of Christ, and the Blessed Virgin; we don’t petition help from any purely human individual or institution. Jesus and Mary will never let us down, even if many others do, and I hope that I will not let them down either. I also have hundreds of Legionaries with me who have made that same commitment to Christ. If we all live it out, we can show the world the deeper love.
Thank you very much brother Matthew for letting us know a littl bit moe about your life. I admire you guys for embracing those three vows and was curious to know how you manage respect them. Makes me think that I should medidate more often.